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My Thankful Journal

Monday, April 18, 2016

Hello Lovelies

You may have seen in my what I got for my birthday post (see that post here) that my lovely friend Lynne bought me some beautiful gifts and one of the gifts she bought me was a Thankful Journal and a matching pen. I'd never seen a Thankful Journal before and it's such a lovely idea and something that I wanted to share with you all.

My thankful journal or gratitude journal as they are also known is a lovely journal with a dark purple cover with a floral design and a lovely jewelled brooch and elastic fastening.

The cover is lovely and the jewel fastening makes it look and feel luxurious, I also have a matching pen which is lovely.

The Thankful Journal is a lovely idea and one I hadn't heard of before I received mine for my birthday. Inside the journal are lined pages with a header at the top of the page where it says "Today I am thankful for" and then the a space for me to write the date in and then 4 numbered spaces where I can write down 4 things from that day that I am thankful for.

I really like the concept of the Thankful Journal, 2015 was a really hard year for me and my family and especially from around September onwards and so far the beginning of 2016 hasn't been brilliant either for a few different reasons, so writing down 4 things at the end of the day that I am thankful for is a really good way of reminding myself that even though things are difficult right now there are things to be thankful for and there are positives in my life too.

I think the Thankful Journal is a lovely idea and would make an ideal gift for someone, I know I will definitely buy them for friends, especially if they've been through or are going through tough times as I find mine so helpful.

I write down lots of different things in my journal, sometimes I'll simply write "family" or "friends" other times it might be a specific friend or family member or something nice that's happened and other times I write things like "being able to buy a full weeks shopping" or "being able to live in a warm house" these are simple things that can be taken for granted but they are things that I am so thankful for because some people don't have those luxuries and without going into detail we could have easily been the same towards the end of last year.

Of course you don't have to have a Thankful Journal and you could easily make one out of a notepad or even just write down things you are thankful for on some paper but it is nice to have the journal to look back on and because I write the date in and it isn't dated like a diary for instance, I don't have to write in the journal daily.

I read an article recently on thankful journals and the benefits of them and some of the benefits stated were -

✿ Lower stress levels.

✿ Feel calm at night.

✿ Gain a new perspective of what is important to you and what you truly appreciate in your life.

✿ By noting what you are thankful for, you will gain clarity on what you want to have more of in your life, and what you can cut from you life.

✿ Helps you focus on what really matters.

✿ Keeping a thankful journal helps you learn more about yourself and become more self-aware.

✿ Your thankful journal is a safe zone for your eyes only, so you can write anything you feel without judgment.✿On days when you feel blue, read back through your thankful journal to readjust your attitude and remember that you have great people and things in your life.

I do agree with the benefits stated in the article and I can't wait to look back through my journal when I've had it a while and remember all the things I've been thankful for. We have a "jar of happy things" in our kitchen (read my post about it here) and when something good has happened to any of us we write it down and pop it in the jar and then on New Years Eve we read out all the notes that we've put in the jar throughout the year, there were lots of nice things to read on New Years Eve 2015 and although the year had been horrible we still had plenty of nice things to read out that each of us had put in over the year and it reminded us all that whilst 2015 was incredibly cruel, we did still have some lovely times and some great things happened and my journal I feel will be a similar thing but on a more personal level and it will be lovely to look back on.

If you would like to purchase a Thankful Journal like mine, you can find it on the Paperchase website HERE for £6.00.

Is a Thankful Journal or a Gratitude Journal something you would like to own? Or do you already own one? What do you think of the idea? Chat with me in the comments and let me know, I'd love to know your thoughts on it.